VVFA Modern | Artists | Ralph Della-Volpe (American, b. 1923)
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Ralph Della-Volpe first studied painting at the National Academy of Design before joining the Army during World War II. As a soldier, the artist saw action on Utah Beach, and his experiences undoubtedly affected his later artistic style. Tom Wolf, of Bard College, explained that the paintings Della-Volpe produced after his return from service in World War II “project feelings of melancholy.”, expressed in the tense expressions in the figures’ faces. The “coloristic exuberance” found in the works beginning in the mid 1960’s, with their vibrant fuscias and yellows, seem to offset what could be an otherwise solemn tone to many of his works at the time.
Upon his return from military service, Della-Volpe took a teaching position as the first artist-in-residence at Bennett College in Millbrook, New York where he remained for 28 years, serving as chairman of the Art Department for most of that time. Obviously influenced by impressionism's preoccupation with the treatment of light, Volpe's own works have a "faultless tonal quality, with its sense of failing light - the areas of silvery gray deepening into rosy tans". The simplified scenes and portraits express the artist's love of open space and his aim to evoke emotion through each piece rather than recognition of what exactly is painted on the canvas.
Della-Volpe has exhibited widely throughout his career and has lectured on art at colleges, universities, and galleries across the country.
Exhibitions
Warren Street Gallery, Hudson, NY (1994 Retrospective)
Babcock Galleries, New York, NY (One Man Show)
Columbia Museum of Art, Columbia, SC (One Man Show)
East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN (One Man Show)
Albany Museum, Albany, NY
Audubon Artists, New York, NY
Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY
Butler Art Institute Annual, Youngstown, OH
Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Grand Central Art Galleries, New York, NY
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA
Wadsworth Athenaeum, Hartford, CT
Collections
Art Students’ League, New York
Chase Manhattan Bank, New York
Library of Congress/ Pennell Collection, Washington, D.C.
The New U.S. Treasury Building, Washington, D.C.
Slater Museum, Norwich, CT
Wichita Art Association, Wichita, KS
Upon his return from military service, Della-Volpe took a teaching position as the first artist-in-residence at Bennett College in Millbrook, New York where he remained for 28 years, serving as chairman of the Art Department for most of that time. Obviously influenced by impressionism's preoccupation with the treatment of light, Volpe's own works have a "faultless tonal quality, with its sense of failing light - the areas of silvery gray deepening into rosy tans". The simplified scenes and portraits express the artist's love of open space and his aim to evoke emotion through each piece rather than recognition of what exactly is painted on the canvas.
Della-Volpe has exhibited widely throughout his career and has lectured on art at colleges, universities, and galleries across the country.
Exhibitions
Warren Street Gallery, Hudson, NY (1994 Retrospective)
Babcock Galleries, New York, NY (One Man Show)
Columbia Museum of Art, Columbia, SC (One Man Show)
East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN (One Man Show)
Albany Museum, Albany, NY
Audubon Artists, New York, NY
Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY
Butler Art Institute Annual, Youngstown, OH
Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Grand Central Art Galleries, New York, NY
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA
Wadsworth Athenaeum, Hartford, CT
Collections
Art Students’ League, New York
Chase Manhattan Bank, New York
Library of Congress/ Pennell Collection, Washington, D.C.
The New U.S. Treasury Building, Washington, D.C.
Slater Museum, Norwich, CT
Wichita Art Association, Wichita, KS
